


on guitar strings (and learning to move on)

by Sunshine_Wishes



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Vaguely Modern AU, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, and wilbur taught him guitar, hc that techno knows violin, i'm sure you can guess who that is referring to, sorta - Freeform, this is based entirely on their dsmp characters !!!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 02:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30098604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine_Wishes/pseuds/Sunshine_Wishes
Summary: “...Hey Techno?” Tommy sounded timid as he came up behind Techno, and in retrospect that probably should have seemed strange.“What’s up?” Techno turned from where he had been sorting through mail at their dining room table. Tommy was standing in front of him, holding a guitar- oh.Wilbur'sguitar. Techno staggered back against the table, suddenly lightheaded.Or, Tommy finds Wilbur's old guitar, and Techno accepts the last living piece of his twin back into his life.
Relationships: Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 59





	on guitar strings (and learning to move on)

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first mcyt/dsmp work!! it is based off [this tiktok](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeBEHv6F/), and more specifically the many lovely technoblade cosplayers using the sound! a technoblade cosplayer popped up on my fyp with this sound and although they were using it in a slightly different context, the combo of the sound and techno got me thinking..... the moment I came up with it, i knew i had to write it. it was so hard to focus in class with this rattling around in my lil brain... 
> 
> anyway! I really enjoyed writing this, and although there will definitely be more dsmp stuff from me in general, I specifically want to write more musician stuff. i love making all my favorite characters into musicians sjsjsks   
> is it that i just really like writing about music? or is it that i just like flexing about my music knowledge? that's for you to decide.

“...Hey Techno?” Tommy sounded timid as he came up behind Techno, and in retrospect that probably should have seemed strange. 

“What’s up?” Techno turned from where he had been sorting through mail at their dining room table. Tommy was standing in front of him, holding a guitar- oh.  _ Wilbur’s _ guitar. Techno staggered back against the table, suddenly lightheaded.

~~~

_ “Techno! Techno look!” Wilbur was holding a shiny guitar that was practically the size of him. He gave Techno a toothy grin as he bounced through the door, Phil following close behind. “Phil got me a guitar!” Techno smiled at his twin, putting down his book as Wilbur ran across their living room. He almost smashed the guitar against the coffee table as he went, but Phil leaned down just in time to save the instrument from an untimely demise.  _

_ “Careful! Please don’t break this already.” He scolded lightly, but Wilbur ignored him and scrambled up onto the couch next to Techno.  _

_ “Look!” He placed the guitar on his lap and strummed it a couple of times, practically buzzing with excitement.  _

_ “It sounds terrible.” Techno deadpanned, fighting a smile. Wilbur rolled his eyes. _

_ “Duh! It’s cause I don’t know how to play it yet! But just you wait. I’m gonna get really really good and be the best guitar... person in the whole world!” Techno rolled his eyes. _

_ “Guitar person?” He teased, and Wilbur punched him in the arm. _

_ “You know what I mean!” He pouted. There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, before they erupted into giggles, guitar held carefully between them as they laughed. _

_ ~ _

_ “Move your pointer finger. You’re on the wrong string. The chord won’t sound right.” Techno moved his finger to the next string, but Wilbur huffed. “No, not like that. Now you’ve flattened your finger, and you’re silencing the string underneath. ” He bent Techno’s finger into a curve, painfully. _

_ “How the hell do you do this?” Techno hissed. WIlbur just laughed and continued to adjust his fingers. _

_ “You get used to it.” Apparently he was done contorting Techno’s fingers into impossible positions, because he pulled his hand away and held them up. “Okay. Don’t move your fingers.”  _

_ “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.” Techno grumbled. Wilbur nudged him with his shoulder and rolled his eyes.  _

_ “Wimp. Now strum.” Techno huffed and obeyed, expecting it to sound horrible, like his last couple of attempts. It… actually didn’t sound bad, and Wilbur cheered, a wide smile on his face. _

_ “There you go! That’s called a C Major chord. It’s one of the chords that you all the time. Now, I’ll show you D major…”  _

_ ~ _

_ “Technooooooo pleeeeeeeeeeease!” Wilbur flopped dramatically onto the couch next to Techno, his arm landing across Techno’s book. Techno didn’t even look up.  _

_ “No.” He picked up his brother’s arm from his shirt sleeve and dropped it next to him. Wilbur groaned. _

_ “Please! Fundy broke his wrist yesterday and we don’t have another guitarist! I would do it, but I’m playing piano and no one else knows how!” Techno looked over at Wilbur, eyebrows raised, and his brother huffed. “Please! I’ll owe you. I’ll never ask again, I swear.”  _

_ “Fine.” Techno grumbled, closing his book with a deep sigh. “But you owe me.” _

_ “Thank you thank you thank you!” Wilbur jumped up and pulled Techno off the couch with him. “Your part isn’t hard, let me go grab my sheet music and I’ll give it to you so you can start practicing. Our parts line up relatively well, so we can practice tonight once you learn your part. You don’t have to worry about the others, as long as you match my rhythm, once we have everyone it’ll all line up just fine.” Techno huffed and let himself be pulled up the stairs. He was going to regret agreeing, but in the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Wilbur was happy, and above all, that’s what mattered to him. _

~~~

“...Techno?” Tommy sounded concerned, and as his vision cleared again, he realized that his hands were empty and clasped to his chest. He must have dropped all the papers he had been holding. He left them on the floor, unable to tear his eyes away from the instrument in his brother’s hands.

“Where… Where did you find that?” He gasped. Tommy took a step back. 

“I… in the spare bedroom. I know you probably don’t want to see it but I- I…” He looked down at the beat-up guitar in his arms. The thing was practically unplayable, Techno knew- Wilbur had only had two guitars in his lifetime, and in the year preceding his death, he had stopped making music pretty much altogether. It had been gathering dust in that closet for a… while. Despite that, though, Wilbur had loved that guitar. He took it everywhere. He had been needing a guitar for a long time, but vehemently refused because it had so much sentimental value attached to it. Or at least that was what he said at the time. Techno wasn’t sure if it was true. Either way, it was beat up, and as he watched, Tommy hugged the guitar close to him in an almost protective manner. Techno realized with a start that he was talking.

“-didn’t want me to find it but… Is… can it be fixed?” He was saying. Techno just nodded, not trusting his voice to work. Tommy brightened considerably.

“Can  _ you  _ fix it?”

“No.” Techno turned away, trying to ignore the shaking in his hands. 

“No as in you can’t? Or as in you  _ won’t _ ?” 

“I won’t. Take it to a shop, for all I care. It’s a piece of shit, it might not even be playable at this point. Wil- He- It’s… It’s far past its lifetime.” 

“Please, Techno? You know full well that the people at the shop won’t do as good a job, you’ve said so yourself, please-”

“I SAID NO!” Techno spat out, whirling around. Tommy flinched, and took a step back, and Techno instantly regretted snapping.

“Fine.” Tommy lifted his chin, even though he was clearly trembling and his eyes were shining with tears, and turned around. Guitar still cradled in his arms, he started toward the back of the apartment. He made it halfway across the living room before Techno couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fine.” Tommy stopped in his tracks. 

“What?”

“I said I’ll fix it. Give me his-  _ the _ guitar.” The silence was thick as Tommy crossed the room back to Techno and carefully handed it over. “Go to the spare bedroom. In the closet where you found this. There should be a box of spare strings. Get them and bring them back. Hell, bring all the shit you find in there.” Tommy nodded and ran off, leaving Techno alone with the guitar. It had been a while. He hadn’t had the courage to pick it up again after… Techno shook his head sharply and took a shaky breath in.  _ Not the time. _ Tommy was going to be a minute, so he took the time instead to look over the guitar. It was in bad shape, just as he had assumed. One of the strings was missing, perhaps taken off in an abandoned restringing. The others were still intact, but obviously in bad condition. Techno didn’t even want to  _ know _ what it would sound like if he tried to play it. The body was in slightly better condition, but it was clearly worn. Years of using a pick had scratched the body, and it had lost the shiny luster and “new-ness” it had previously held. He was sure he could at least make it somewhat playable, though. He was still staring at the guitar in his arms when Tommy returned, arms full of equipment and various items. He cleared his throat as he approached, before unceremoniously dumping it all onto the table behind Techno. Techno rolled his eyes and turned, gently placing the instrument down.

“Watch closely. But don’t touch anything unless I tell you to.” Techno dug through the pile to find the box of strings, and promptly set to work restringing the guitar. Tommy piped up here and there, asking questions about what he was doing, but otherwise, it was silent as he worked. As he reached the final string, Techno turned to the pile of guitar equipment again and pulled out the electronic tuner. It still worked, thankfully He attached it to the head, carefully picked the instrument back up, and slowly, meticulously, tuned each string. When he was done, he arranged his fingers on the fretboard like he had done hundreds of times before, and strummed a quiet C Major chord. The sound reverberated through the empty house. It sounded good. It reminded Techno of before, when the house was full of music and his brothers’ laughter.

“There you go.” Techno blinked back tears and turned to Tommy, who was watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. He held out the guitar, and Tommy’s face transformed into something like reverence. He took it carefully and held the instrument close. 

“Thank you…” Tommy whispered, running his fingers down the rough strings. It reminded Techno so much of Will that he had to look away. 

“No problem.” He said gruffly, rubbing at his eyes. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to-”

“Techno?” Tommy’s voice was soft, and Techno looked back at him. His brother was watching him, something vulnerable and hesitant in his eyes. “Would you… teach me how to play guitar?”

~~~

_ “C’mon Techno! You’ll love it, I swear!” Wilbur held out the instrument again, and Techno gently shoved it away.  _

_ “I already play violin, dumbass. Why would I want to play guitar?” Wilbur bounced on his feet. _

_ “Because if you learn guitar you can do duets with me!” Techno cocked his head. _

_ “But we already do duets? You play the piano, you do remember that, right?” Wilbur sighed dramatically. _

_ “Yeah, but those are boring! I don’t want to play classical! Who cares about music from a bunch of dead guys!” Techno put a hand to his heart, carefully arranging his features into an expression of hurt. _

_ “I care about music from a bunch of dead guys, thank you very much!” Wilbur rolled his eyes. _

_ “That’s cause you’re weird. I want to play cool music. And I want to do it with you. Please? If you hate it, you don’t have to keep going. But try, please?” _

_ “Fine.” Techno huffed, but it really was just for show. He had know he was going to end up agreeing the moment Wilbur had approached him about it. He really couldn’t say no to him. _

_ “Yes!” Wilbur smiled brightly and shoved the guitar into Techno’s arms. He grabbed Techno’s arm and tugged him over to the couch, bouncing on his feet the whole way. Techno rolled his eyes affectionately and allowed himself to be pushed over and the guitar to be properly arranged in his arms. “Okay so! We’ll start with the open strings. Theres E, and then B, and then-” _

~~~

“Okay.” Tommy’s eyes widened almost comically.

“Really?” He sounded like he hadn’t expected Techno to agree so easily, and Techno guessed he couldn’t blame him.

“Yeah. Come here, we’ll sit on the couch.” He started toward the couch without a second glance, but he knew Tommy was following him. He sat down carefully and patted the spot next to him. Tommy sat, looking up at him with a blinding smile. Techno smiled back softly and looked down at the guitar. 

“Okay. So. We’ll start with the open strings. This one is called E, then B, and then…” 

~~~

Techno wasn’t sure where his twin had ended up. He wasn’t sold on the idea of an afterlife, himself, and he knew Wilbur hadn’t been either. But wherever he was, he hoped Wilbur was looking down on them, sitting on the ratty couch in their childhood home and bathed in the afternoon light, as the shaky sound of an old guitar rang in the air. Techno hoped he was happy. He hoped he was watching them as they learned to move on.

**Author's Note:**

> i was so excited to use my newfound guitar knowledge if you couldn't tell shdjksks  
> fun fact: similar to techno in this, i also find c major chords stupidly difficult to play. i have Really tiny hands, and they just do not bend that way! i much prefer like. anything else. my tiny hands strike again. i struggle with piano for the same reason. the biggest interval i can reach is an octave! honestly, i know the basics of six instruments at this present moment, and my hands make it difficult to play like. all of them. why are the bottommost keys on the clarinet so difficult to cover?! my ring fingers are just not meaty enough to cover them! anyway. hope you have a lovely day/night. <3
> 
> (psst i also cosplay dmsp niki and more soon so if you're interested in that follow my [tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@dreamingofthesun?lang=en))


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